Ballynahinch: Ceramics, Gardens and Golf

When looking for a hotel in Ballynahinch, it can help to plan your trip around the interests you actually want to pursue. Colours offers a creative activity, Montalto Estate combines a garden visit with rolling countryside, and golf, fishing and a guided tour each have their own focus. Afternoon tea adds a culinary break to the mix. This lets you choose your hotel based on what you’d like to do during your stay.

Ceramics, Gardens and Heritage

Colours is an award-winning pottery-painting studio in Ballynahinch where you can paint your own ceramics. The experience is about creating something yourself rather than simply looking around. If you enjoy getting hands-on during a trip, it offers a different kind of experience from visiting a garden, playing golf or fishing. Check the details before your visit, as they may change.

Montalto Estate’s Lost Garden was once overgrown and forgotten; it has since been uncovered and restored. The estate offers visitors 400 acres of rolling countryside and access to the gardens. The site brings together garden history and an experience in which the landscape and gardens themselves also play a part.

At Kinedale Donkeys, the two-hour guided tour is called “Donkey Trail Through Time”. It includes harnessing a working donkey and working the land with original equipment. Lasting two hours, the tour can be planned as a standalone activity; its content and format combine agricultural heritage with hands-on activities.

The experiences also differ in how you take part: at Colours, you paint your own ceramics, while the guided Kinedale tour involves harnessing a donkey and working the land. Montalto focuses on gardens and countryside. You can choose between creative making, a guided agricultural activity, and a visit centred on gardens and landscape.

Golf and Fishing

Spa Golf Club has a parkland golf course with panoramic views of the Mourne Mountains. Here, golf is the main focus, complemented by a sweeping landscape panorama, setting this activity apart from garden and heritage experiences.

Brown trout fishing is possible on the Ballynahinch River downstream of Kilmore. The river’s DAERA-managed fishing stretches are signposted. Fishing rules, conditions and access arrangements may change, so check the latest information before your visit.

Afternoon Tea as a Culinary Break

At Millbrook Lodge, afternoon tea is served with finger sandwiches, homemade scones, pastries, seasonal cakes, sweet treats, and tea or coffee. The selection of savoury and sweet items makes it a standalone culinary break alongside outdoor activities. As menus and booking arrangements may change, and cakes are seasonal, check the latest information in advance.

Discover more destinations: Conlig, Crawfordsburn, Dromore, Bangor, Holywood, Newcastle, Ardglass, Rathfriland

For the main travel overview: Down.